RHB Bank’s earnings down 18.1pc
KUALA LUMPUR: RHB Bank Bhd is projecting a loan growth of between 4.0 per cent and 5.0 per cent in its financial year ending Dec 31 this year, lower than last year’s 5.6 per cent.
Group managing director Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli said there was opportunity to grow its non-interest income, in particular in wealth management.
“We think the group’s broking business will continue to be robust” after a strong January, he said at a virtual briefing on its financial performance for last year.
Its net profit slipped 18.1 per cent to RM2.03 billion from RM2.48 billion in 2019, mainly due to net modification loss, higher allowances for credit losses and impairment loss in an associate.
Revenue eased 6.9 per cent to RM12.60 billion from RM13.53 billion previously.
For the fourth quarter, its net profit decreased 29.4 per cent to RM438.63 million from RM621.01 million in the same period in 2019, while revenue fell 9.4 per cent to RM3.10 billion from RM3.42 billion previously.
Khairussaleh expects the group’s credit cost to ease but remain elevated compared to the 0.58 per cent recorded last year.
He added that the group’s impairment for expected credit losses (ECL) was likely to remain high this year but it was hopeful that customers could recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The challenge for us is to see how fast our customers can recover. The ECL should be lower this year compared to the 58 basis points recorded last year.”
On impairment, he said RHB Bank would monitor and undertake the reschedule and restructure of loans without having to impair the accounts.